Plans to restore vital pharmacy service
DESPITE watching 13 years of hard work be destroyed, a Pollokshields pharmacist is working “round the clock” to reopen his business for his customers.
Owner Mohammed Adill Sheikh’s Pollokshields Pharmacy was in the ground floor of a tenement block where a fire broke out last Wednesday.
We told how the blaze engulfed the Kenmure Street building just five months after a fire immediately across the road on Albert Drive.
Adill has told how police gave residents and businesses just seconds to evacuate.
And the fire came on the day of a large delivery of coronavirus equipment – which has now been lost.
He said: “We only had about 30 seconds to grab what we could and get out.
“The only thing we did manage to get out in that 30 seconds we had was the USB sticks for patients’ information, which will be extremely useful for rebuilding.
“And that’s what the priority is – it’s now time to plan ahead and deal with these unfortunate circumstances.”
Adill, who employs 12 staff members at Pollokshields Pharmacy, visited the premises with the city council’s Building Control workers. However, due to the electricity being off, the shutters to the shop would not open and they were unable to get in.
He said: “Instead we peeked through the shutters to see inside. The inside was really hammered, mostly with serious water damage.
“The basement will be flooded and we had a lot of stuff for Covid-19 in there: we had our delivery of masks and gloves come in just that morning so the timing could not have been worse.”
Now Adill is working to find an alternative to the vital community resource as he believes it will be “years” before they can return to Kenmure Street.
He said: “I immediately started thinking of what happens next. There was not time to feel sympathy for myself. “Thousands of people depend on the shop for health care so we have to work on getting back to business for them.
“Our plan is to relocate to the bowling green a couple of blocks away and use portable cabins. “Firstly we need to apply to the health board to say we are relocating but we are not too worried about this as they have been really helpful so far.
“We’ll then need to get permission from the council and then get hold of what drugs we can.”
For now, the pharmacy is directing customers to a second branch in Shawlands, on Minard Road, where prescriptions can be collected or delivered from.
Adill added: “The customers and patients have been great and we have had no complaints. The community has really, really pulled together and is being so positive.
“Our only enemy is time. We want to be open again as soon as possible because this is such a busy time and if we are closed then it puts pressure on other pharmacies in the area.”
Wellcare Pharmacy on Minard Road can be contacted on 0141 632 0243 or pollokshieldspharmacy@ gmail.com